Diwakar to lead India at Jr hockey World Cup

Drag-flicker Diwakar Ram will lead an 18-member Indian squad in the FIH men's junior World Cup, to be jointly hosted by Singapore and Malaysia, from June 7 to 21.

India is drawn in Pool D with Holland, New Zealand, Poland and Singapore.

They open their campaign against Singapore on June 8 before taking on New Zealand the next day.

They face Holland on June 11 and finish off their league engagements against Poland the next day.

The team will leave for Singapore on June 2 and play two practice matches, against Chile and Germany on June 4 and 5 respectively.

A record 20 teams, drawn in four pools, will take part in the ninth edition of the tournament.

Matches will be played at Seng Kang Sports and Recreation Centre, Singapore and Taman Daya Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Mrinal Choubey, Harjit Singh.

Full-backs: Diwakar Ram (captain), Innocent Kullu, Manjeet Kullu.

Midfielders: Birendra Lakra, Amardeep Ekka, Vikas Sharma, Vivek, Belsajar Horo, Vikas Pillay.

Forwards: Mandeep Antil, Jay Karan, Danish Mujtaba, Pramod Kumar, Mohd. Amir Khan, Victo Singh, Dharamvir Singh.

Coach: A K Bansal

Standbys: C Santosh Kumar (GK), Sunil Yadav, Mohd Asif Khan, Lalit Upadhyay, Yuvraj Walmiki.

Group D fixtures:

June 8: vs Singapore

June 9: vs New Zealand

June 11: vs Holland

June 12: vs Poland.